


Inescapable Downfall

by kmd0107



Category: Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Dark, F/M, Marks, Nemesis Marks, No Beta! We die like men!, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, VMTAP20
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:56:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25149568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kmd0107/pseuds/kmd0107
Summary: Fate is a fickle bitch...Nemesis Marks AU
Comments: 28
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted as a few short pieces on Tumblr - now expanded and maybe kind of coherent.
> 
> um...yeah so this is darker than what I usually write so sorry in advance no fluff here. I do have a hopeful ending planned if that helps :)

_The universe is conspiring against me. There is no other explanation for this._ Logan drops down onto the pool house bed. The burning in his wrists, reaching a painful crescendo.

The elegant script on his right wrist had been there for years: Father

It didn’t take a genius to work out that was his nemesis mark. Some wacked out otherworldly soul connection to a man who showed his love with the end of a cigarette. 

And on his left wrist in small block letters, her name taunts him. Veronica Mars. 

Since it was impossible for his father to be his soulmate and since Aaron’s actions definitely place him squarely in the ‘nemesis’ column. That meant Veronica was his soulmate. But that’s the rub; usually, the marks aren’t visible to anyone else. And yet, lying on his bed, sobbing, Logan had seen Veronica’s. Maybe she had traced over the words in pen. He didn’t know. But on the left was ‘Duncan Kane’ and on the right was ‘Logan Echolls.’ 

He was devastated. He was his soulmate’s nemesis. 

There is no way that perfect prince Duncan Kane could be her nemesis. Which clearly left him. Logan Echolls: Nemesis.

Most people got their marks with puberty. But no. That was just another way the universe is screwing him. Logan can’t remember a time when he didn’t have the word ‘Father’ on him. But his soulmate mark hadn’t appeared, even when other people started gossiping about getting theirs. What actually kills him in all of this is that it was usually the other way. If you got just one mark, it was your soulmate, and you were likely to live a happy, normal life.

_What does that say about you? No happy or normal in store for you…_

He’s spent many a long night wondering if his mark means he will be just like Aaron, and that’s why he doesn’t have a soulmate. Then he’d met Lilly and been certain her name would appear on his skin. She’d be his escape. But it never came, and she swore she had no marks. No soulmate, no nemesis, no soul connections. Lilly had been convinced it was a sign of how fabulous she was. 

_“No one to hold me down or back. I rule my fate.”_

Logan swallows a long pull of scotch—the good stuff from the locked cabinet—and stares at Veronica’s name. It had appeared while he held her during Lilly’s funeral.

Fate is a fickle bitch.

He’d been in so much pain he hadn’t even felt it until the whole thing was formed.

* * *

Veronica huddles under her comforter, seeking…comfort. Can a few pieces of material and polyfill fill the gap in her heart, her soul, where Lilly belonged?

_“Of course not ‘Ronica. Besides, your cutesy Target thingy here isn’t up to the job. You’d need like a goose feather down comforter with a cashmere duvet to even come close to feeling comforted in the time of my loss.”_

Veronica looks up, and there stands a shadow-cast Lilly, picking at the edge of her comforter with a look of distaste that makes her look like Celeste.

“ _Hey, what happened to not speaking ill of the dead. Just because I’m dead doesn’t mean you can compare me to Mommy Dearest.”_

Ghost Lilly turns, and the deep gash in her temple comes into view, blood dry and cakey. Veronica feels her body start to shake, and she squeezes her eyes shut. Spots of light dot her vision, and a searing pain radiates from her marks as she rocks and chants for it to all go away.

* * *

It’s all over the news. Sheriff Keith Mars believes the Kanes are involved in Lilly’s murder. He’s brought them in for questioning over and over. So lost in his grief over losing Lilly, Logan hasn’t noticed what’s been going on around him. None of which touches on how confused he is about Veronica bearing his and Duncan’s soul marks.

He’s briefly entertained the idea that Duncan has to be Veronica’s nemesis and that maybe they were soulmates. But it’s absurd. Duncan ‘Golden-Boy’ Kane is no one’s enemy. No. Seeing the leaked crime scene video has made it all incredibly clear and shattered the last of his hopes. The title of psychotic jackass, nemesis, abuser, belongs to him. He is his father’s son, after all.

He feels the rage build and burn, and decides to let that part of himself, that he fears and loathes, out to play. If he can’t be Veronica’s soulmate, he will solidify their soul connection in the only other way fate has offered. Pain.

* * *

Veronica wakes cold, alone, and sore. Her entire body aches. But more than that, she burns. Her wrists burn. This is how Veronica has started every morning since Shelly’s party. She’d woken up that morning in so much pain physically and emotionally. Sometimes she thinks her marks are intent on never letting her forget.

_You know that isn’t right, Veronica. This feeling started before that morning._

And it had. The first morning Veronica woke to the burning was the day after she’d seen Lilly with her head bashed in. The day Lilly died, the marks had come alive. Heat and fire. She’d tried to talk to Duncan, but he continued his silent treatment of her. And only days later, Logan gave her an ultimatum she was too shocked and sleep-deprived to respond to. By the time she had tried...it was too late. He wouldn’t even listen to her.

Veronica’s marks had appeared at puberty like most people. But she’d gotten two names, her two best male friends. She’d lied when people asked, while quietly trying to do research on getting more than one soulmate. Because _that_ Veronica couldn’t imagine a world where she had a nemesis. Well, _that_ Veronica no longer exists, and in her place is shame and anger. A lot of anger. And the belief that fate has dealt her two nemeses.

Her wrists burned almost constantly that first month and then dulled into background noise as the pain over losing Lilly, and then her mother took up most of her energy. The next day she’d been sure she’d seen Lilly’s ghost. However, it wasn’t until after Shelly’s party and her _assault_ —she still couldn’t even think _the_ word—that she saw Lilly again. That was when the nature of how her marks behaved changed. Pain spiked, fever hot, and sometimes she is sure she can hear Lilly. As time passes, Lilly’s voice has become clearer, and she’s started seeing her, but even more clearly than that first time. If she ignores Lilly, the pain increases, but if she lets her in, listens, interacts with the hallucination, the pain recedes. And that can only mean one thing. She is losing her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right...so it gets worse before it gets better...brief but somewhat graphic scene with Caitlin and Logan, and you know um...I added Donut, sorry ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Also, I did a bit of light editing on chapter 1 if you're like, "Yeah, I need to read that again!" haha!

Logan can almost pretend the blonde hair splayed across his thighs is a different blonde, except that she keeps speaking. But there are no polite ways to say shut up when your dick is getting sucked. At least, no way that will lead to the continuation of said activity, and Logan is feeling pretty invested at this stage of the game.

Every time he slides into her mouth, every press of her fingers into his thighs makes Veronica’s name throbs. That low pressure in his belling is starting to build, he’s so close to coming, but the pain radiating from her name keeps him from being able to cross that threshold. It’s like he’s being punished. And why shouldn’t he be, he doesn’t deserve happiness. He is his soulmate’s nemesis, and he’s taken to the role with all his heart. He has been reveling in the cruelty of his actions, taking pleasure as she fights back. It makes him feel more like Aaron every day, stuck in a cycle that wouldn’t break.

He’d give almost anything to have it break. 

One second the soul mark feels like it’s going to explode right out of his forearm, and in the next, a rush of endorphins floods his system. Catching him so by surprise with its suddenness that he there’s no chance to warn Caitlin before he goes off in her mouth.

Watching her nearly retch as she calls him an asshole isn’t exactly sexy, and he really just wants to be alone, but he has standards. So, he quickly offers an apology, telling her she was just that good (she wasn’t), and gets to work. If he pretends she’s someone else, if he rushes through it, she doesn’t seem to notice or care. Maybe she’s been pretending too?

A week later, Veronica proves Caitlin has been cheating on him with Chardo that feels like something he deserves too.

* * *

Veronica is sure she had a good time; she definitely had a good time. Troy was nice, attentive, they’d laughed. He hadn’t treated her like radioactive sludge. There is definitely something wrong with her.

_“Of course, there is Veronica!”_ Lilly Kane’s ghost flops onto the bed beside her. “ _You have soul marks; you can’t date other people.”_

“Well, gosh, Lilly, I’d never considered that. Should I just go talk to Duncan, see if he’s ready to pick back up where we left off?”

Lilly rolls her eyes. “ _No, not unless you want to be very unfulfilled. I spy on him too, let’s just say…boh-ring_.”

“Okay, Lilly, thanks for the advice.”

“ _I haven’t even gotten to that part yet! You should do Logan!”_

Veronica shudders and rolls away from Lilly. “Over my dead—um…never mind. No, thank you.”

“I’m _just saying. You probably wouldn’t experience physical pain with him.”_

_“_ Not physical, but definitely emotional. Can we talk about something else?” Veronica asks and rolls over, but Lilly is gone.

She stares down at her arms and the two names. She just wants to be a normal, happy teenager. But right in front of her is the evidence that she will never get to be either of those things. And in fact, it is unlikely she will have those things as an adult either.

She tries to think back over what went wrong with Troy. She lets her eyes drift shut and decides to return to that moment. They’d had fun, he’d walked her out to the car, he’d leaned in to kiss her— Her eyes jolt open in the present with the same pain as earlier lancing through Logan’s name. Not Duncan’s.

_What does that mean?_

She decides that for the moment, as far as she is concerned, Logan, and his damn soul mark, can go fuck himself. She deserves to have fun and be happy. She’s going to be those things even if it hurts her. Fate does not control her life.

* * *

“Duncan, can you tell me what happened again?” Dr. Levine asks.

“Um…I fell off the bleachers.” His doctor raises his brows. Duncan sighs and continues, “Fine, I threw myself off them, but not to hurt myself. I was trying to…impress someone.”

“The girl who brought you in?”

“Yeah.”

“Duncan, when we got you the anti-depressants, we talked about your marks. How you couldn’t be with your soulmate. I think we need to revisit this issue, that was her, was it not?”

Duncan feels his cheeks heat and nods, keeping his eyes firmly directed at his shoes.

“And you’re certain she doesn’t bare your mark?”

Duncan starts to laugh, and or sob, he can’t help it. The tears fill his eyes as his body convulses a few times. _His mark_. Jesus, the things he’d done with Veronica, the things he still wants to do. He gives himself a moment to recover, trying to discreetly wipe his eyes.

Duncan sits back up and gets back to the doctor’s question. “She says she doesn’t have any. But Dr. Levine, I have a question I have to ask, can siblings be each other’s soulmates?”

The doctor gives him a strange look. “Are you still seeing Dr. Grey about Lilly?”

Duncan shakes his head.

“It’s rare. I’ve read a few case studies. People who study such things think most people don’t come forward, for obvious reasons. But Duncan, more importantly, if you think Lilly was your soulmate, we need to get you set back up with Dr. Grey. Soulmate loss is very serious—”

“No, no, nothing like that, it was just hypothetical. I think I’ll be okay. I just need to go back on the anti-depressants. They helped a lot.”

The doctor looks unconvinced but nods his head and writes a few more notes.

On the ride home, Duncan stares out the window, considering what Dr. Levin said about how a lot of sibling soulmates just didn’t tell anyone. Could he and Veronica do that? Maybe if she never knew, and if they moved far away…They are fated for each other, after all. Matched by the universe. He should tell her about his soul mark. She should know she belongs to him.

He’d been fated to kill Lilly, though, so maybe it was better to feel nothing than to risk killing another sister. Killing another soulmate. Maybe the anti-depressants will repress those feelings, and he can just go on feeling nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Big shout out to everyone who has encouraged me to work on this over the years. I originally wrote the snippets in 2016...


End file.
